Reflections on "The Things They Carried" Analyzing the story’s craftsmanship Tim O’Brien wrote a story that is known as "The Things They Carried." It is a carefully crafted, detailed account of a Lieutenant and his men, the time period being right in the middle of the Vietnam war. In most war stories the author spends most of his or her time describing actions and events to the reader, trying to really put the …showed first 75 words of 865 total…

…showed last 75 words of 865 total…that issue of LT. Cross, thinking of him and Martha on the beach, wondering if she is a virgin, or just a random flash of her before his eyes. The reader acquires a very keen sense of how obsessed the Lieutenant is on this woman, and therefore the ending holds that much more significance when he burns her letters and pictures, vowing to never think of her again. Bibliography : www.cdc.gov/epo/prevent.htm